文献类型： 外文期刊

作者： Zhang, Xianzhi ¹ ; He, Wenliang ¹ ; Wang, Xinyi ¹ ; Li, Yongquan ¹ ; Liu, Zhaojun ² ; Wang, Wencai ¹ ;

作者机构： 1.Zhongkai Univ Agr & Engn, Coll Hort & Landscape Architecture, Guangzhou 510225, Peoples R China

2.Xinjiang Acad Agr Sci, Biol Breeding Lab, Urumqi 830091, Peoples R China

关键词： Sexual dimorphism; Eucommia ulmoides; Floral B-class genes; Gene expression; Secondary metabolites

期刊名称：BMC PLANT BIOLOGY （ 影响因子：4.8； 五年影响因子：5.4 ）

ISSN： 1471-2229

年卷期： 2025 年 25 卷 1 期

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： Eucommia ulmoides is a dioecious plant species that has been widely utilized as an important traditional Chinese medicine. To investigate sexual dimorphism and its underling molecular basis in E. ulmoides, we conducted an integrated analysis of transcriptomic and metabolomic data, alongside functional gene studies, for the first time. The results revealed that 8,811 (43.72%) of genes expressed in flowers were sex-biased genes, significantly more than the 116 (0.078%) identified in leaves. Among these, two male-biased and four female-biased genes consistently expressed in both flowers and leaves were identified, including two B-class floral organ identity genes, i.e. AP3-like EuMADS39 and PI-like EuMADS28. Additionally, 123 differentially abundant metabolites were detected between male and female flowers. Functional analyses demonstrated that protein EuMADS39 and EuMADS28 are both localized in the nucleus and capable of forming a protein complex. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants co-expressing EuMADS39 and EuMADS28 exhibited an increased number of stamens (7) compared to wild-type plants (6), confirming their roles as B-class genes in the development of unisexual flowers in E. ulmoides. In summary, this study uncovered the sexual dimorphisms in gene expression and metabolite profiles of E. ulmoides, and validated the role of B-class genes in sexual dimorphism of E. ulmoides.Clinical trial number Not applicable.